Marburg: Youthful University City with Deep Historical Roots

Other cities have a university, Marburg is a university: With about 18.700 students and 3.500 employees, the University of Marburg is today’s largest employer in the city and the major economic factor of its almost 80.000 citizens and the entire region.

Marburg introduced

"Marburg - the creative little model city” - this is how a newspaper in nearby Giessen a little enviously titled its portrayal of Marburg’s cultural life. Whether the cultural scene in Marburg is exemplary in every way is up to your individual judgment.
Indeed, the city is stimulated by an endless and spirited source of creativity and ideas: from classical music to off-theatre, from museums and archives to open-air festivals, from literary circles and socio-cultural centers to the multiple prize-winning cinema programs. A range of bars and affordable restaurants complete the necessary ingredients for a true students’ city.

Overview of the universities

University of Marburg
Incorporated in 1527, the University of Marburg considers itself to be a classical university offering a full range of courses with a modern approach. Its broad range of arts and humanities and its experimentally challenging scientific work constitute an ideal platform for interdisciplinary cooperation. Next to first rate research and teaching, students also enjoy Marburg’s peaceful environment. Anonymity and overcrowded lecture halls are uncommon. Lecturers and students cherish Marburg mainly because of its attractive historic town center, its beautiful landscape and its wide range of cultural activities.The university buildings are located at two different sites. While the humanities and arts including its newest addition, the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, are concentrated in the town center, the Department of Mathematics and most of the science departments are located on the Lahn Hills, six kilometers outside the inner city. This is also where the university hospital, the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, the biomedical research center as well as Germany’s first laboratory with the highest security level are situated.
Studying at the University of Marburg is particularly easy for disabled people, especially for the visually impaired, due to a number of special aids. As a result, the University of Marburg has by far the greatest number of blind students. Recently, the university has also been concentrating on measures that provide an even more family-friendly work environment. These self-imposed commitments have been awarded the Family-Friendly University seal, which is very rare in Germany. And last but not least, the University of Marburg
also offers a wide range of leisure activities in the areas of sports, music and culture.

Herder Institute
Since its foundation in April 1950, Herder Institute has been one of Germany's principal centers for historical research on East-Central Europe. Sponsored by the federal government and all sixteen federal states of Germany, this non-university institution (member of the Leibniz Association) operates as a center for research and academic services.

Things to check out

Venice is known for its thousand bridges, Marburg for its stairs and alleys. Jacob Grimm once said: "I believe there are more steps in the streets than in the houses.” Crooked, bumpy, angular and steep, such is Marburg’s Old Upper Town. But if you climb up to the Landgrave Castle, the view over the city and its surroundings is more than rewarding.
You can completely relax in the Old and the New Botanical Garden. Century-old trees in the Old Botanical Garden on Pilgrimstein in the town center and over 12,500 plants from all over the world in the New Botanical Garden on the Lahn Hills lure you into a realm of sweet daydreams.
The Planet Trail: With its starting point in Marburg-Cappel at the model of the sun, the planet trail passes all of the planets of the solar system represented in the same scale. The trail along the Lahn River ends at the main train station and is approximately six kilometers long.

What's happening

Every year the second weekend in July, called '3 Days Marburg', is filled with a brisk market life, music and culture and has something to offer for every taste: eight stages in the inner city and in the park surrounding the castle, Sunday shopping, the Dragonboat Cup, fireworks, a children’s festival and much more.
Every last Friday in June live bands and DJs in and around the lecture hall building attract between 10.000 and 15.000 visitors as the University of Marburg holds its annual summer party.

Useful Links

Website of the City of Marburg: www.marburg.de/en

Student radio “Radio Unihört”: www.unihoert.de

Student TV “UniTV Marburg”: www.unitv-marburg.de

Student Housing offered by the Student Council: www.studentenwerk-marburg.de

Handicapped students will find spacious rooms with special installations in the Konrad-Biesalski-House. A private nursing service takes care of the students' physical needs 24 hours a day. Couples and families can rent apartments with two or three rooms in the domiciles situated in 88 Richtsberg and 13 Ritterstreet.

Website of the Express, a gratuitous weekly magazine for Marburg and Giessen: www.marbuch-verlag.de

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